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server lag

Since there have been some server lag issues on some recent matches to the point of almost throwing the game, I wanted to start a discussion that hopefully could end up remedying the situation. First of all, the system requirements for the game are based on what was widely available in 2007. Both server and client. Why are we lagging out now, in 2014? I don't remember lagging out this bad when the game was first released. Broadband speeds have gradually increased since then, though there seem to be more choke points at some data centers these days. One thing that caught my eye in the original README file from the ETQW dedicated server for linux:

Important system requirements:

------------------------------

You need a low latency kernel for optimal performance (this applies to both client and server installations).

Make sure your kernel is configured with CONFIG_HZ_1000=y. You should also enable other low latency

settings, such as the various preemption settings.

Almost no pre-installed linux distributions that data centers would install for you would have these on by default. You'd have to configure them manually and recompile the kernel or install a special package if the distro has one. I'd suspect that the original ranked servers sanctioned by splash damage would have had these options configured, and the later unranked servers would have the more generic setup. It might be worth experimenting with to make sure some of the lag isn't server side rather than network induced.

TL:DR

The original ranked servers sanctioned by splash damage ran low-latency kernels and I don't think the later unranked servers do. This might be contributing
to the server-wide lag outs we've been experiencing.

I have little time playing on TAW servers, I dont know the past, but last week, i have 800 ping in servers that normaly have 180 and I have the same trouble with TAW web site and TS server (Is all the Games Server, Web Site and TS hosted in the same provider ?)

This lagg issue, may be a temporal one. We need to test again a couple of times to ensureit is caused by a "wrong" config

In my case I don't think raw network latency is the issue, as I'm only about 130 miles away from NYC where the server is. You being several thousand miles away I think the fact that you can get a 180ms ping is remarkable. That should be playable. I'd like to see your traceroute...probably some undersea cables in the mix there. My ping hovers around 40ms to 60ms but I get lag that is effectively much higher but it's only during certain parts of the game, like when there's a lot going on. I don't think it's a "wrong" config on the part of TAW, but rather a negative trend in how data centers partition and sell their servers/network. The originals specs listed for the game called for dedicated servers with the aforementioned low latency settings and the original ranked ETQW servers conformed to those requirements and the later more generic servers don't. Every ETQW server left has the lag issue, not just TAW.